Cancer GeneticsGenetic Disorder

What are cancer genetics?• Many cancer-predisposing traits are inherited in an autosomal

dominant fashion, that is, the cancer susceptibility occurs when only one copy of the altered gene is inherited.

• For most people who develop cancer, the cancer-causing gene mutations happen over the course of a lifetime, leading to cancer later in life. Some people are born with a gene mutation that they inherited from their mother or father. This damaged gene puts them at higher risk for cancer than most people. When cancer occurs because of an inherited gene mutation, it is referred to as "hereditary cancer.“

• Cancer is a condition where some of our cells are damaged and cannot be repaired by our body. These cells can begin to grow and divide abnormally and escape our body’s normal control processes. These abnormal cells are cancer cells.

What are some symptoms? • Cancer cells can grow together as masses called tumors which replace

normal cells in tissue or organs. Cancer cells can interfere with the normal functioning of the organ where they arose, and they can also spread to surrounding tissue or through the blood and lymph tissue to other organs. When cancer cells spread beyond their original site to other organs it is called "metastasis.“

• Cancer usually develops slowly, often involving multiple steps (damage to multiple genes), over a period of several years. Cancer can usually be treated. Depending on what step or stage the cancer is found, it often can be cured

Other Hereditary CancersHereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC) is a hereditary syndrome that can increase the risk for the following cancers: colon (particularly under age 50)

• Ovarian, endometrial (uterine), stomach, small intestine, and bile duct

Cowden Syndrome can increase the risk for the following cancers: breast

• Thyroid (non-medullary), Cowden Syndrome can also cause distinct skin lesions

Peutz-Jegher Syndrome can increase the risk for the following cancers: colon

• Breast and pancreas

• Peutz-Jegher Syndrome can also cause multiple pigmented spots on lips and inner cheeks

Li-Fraumeni Syndrome can increase the risk for the following cancers: breast

• sarcomas (bony and soft-tissue), brain tumors, and childhood adrenocortical carcinomas